


Inarticulate

by iridescentnica



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Mute - Freeform, selective mutism, sorta angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-10-10 02:02:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17416889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iridescentnica/pseuds/iridescentnica
Summary: Annabeth Chase hates speaking. Ever since an unfortunate incident when she was thirteen, she had been led on to a life filled with silence. She had completely shut off her ability to speak in front of other people, only being able to speak through her pen and notebook.Percy Jackson is too egotistic. He cheats, he steals, and he lies, and is basically the spawn of the devil. He's too noisy, and is a bad influence to whoever gets involved with him.So let's just get to the point. Life is crap, so go along with it.





	Inarticulate

**Author's Note:**

> Inarticulate is the first book of a series of books under this specific alternate universe I had set up for these characters. I am still debating on its name, but if you could suggest anything that would be great, too.
> 
>  
> 
> This AU contains no magic, nor fantastical elements at all, meaning, that the gods, and the rest of the world we all know and hold dear is nonexistent. Base it upon our own universe, if you will. Because of the absence of the myths, it affects how the characters were brought up as it was the main factor in the original series in all their growths.
> 
> Imagine their lives without it in the first place. How would they grow as people? How will they interact with other known characters? Will they meet their intended? Who would they be as a person? What about their family?
> 
> I have only deduced to place the characters traits as to how I would see they would be given the circumstances, and I hope you may be understanding if there is a thing or two out of place when you read, but do feel free to comment your concerns.
> 
> Another thing I have to mention in this AU is that all of the characters are set in one place, to prevent further confusion for both the reader and the writer. This provides easy comprehension for the reader and less stressful thinking for the writer, so I hope you may accept this change.
> 
> I will be back from time to time to improve this introduction, in hopes that it may be satisfactory and beneficial to both sides.

 

 

  
**Chapter 1**

 

THERE WAS ALWAYS A BIT OF ODD COMFORT FOUND IN COMPLETE SILENCE. Annabeth definitely thought so, as she used her noise-canceling headphones while she continued to sketch on her notebook. She hummed to herself, feeling the vibrations in her throat. Concentration tends to be at its prime during silence, and Annabeth was clearly taking advantage of that. Charcoal stained her hands, her unruly curls managed to get in the way of her vision, but she didn't mind, as if she was truly lost in her work at that moment.

 

Unbeknownst to her, the door opens, revealing her stepmother, Carrie Chase. The woman crossed her arms as she stared at the girl in front of her, still lost in the patterns of charcoal spirals on paper. She reached out to tap her on the shoulder, causing her to yelp and jump in place.

Annabeth hastily took off her headphones, letting them hang by her neck.

"I've been calling your name multiple times downstairs," Carrie told her.

"Uh, yeah, I'm sorry," Annabeth said quietly, her voice almost a whisper. "I couldn't hear anything."

"Exactly why I told you not to buy those headphones the other day," Carrie eyed the object hanging by her neck. "Clearly, you didn't listen."

Annabeth shrugged and proceeded to put it back on.

"Hold it right there, missy," her stepmother halted her, making the seventeen-year-old freeze in place. "You know what day it is today?"

"Friday?"

"No, it's a Monday, which also means you have at least one week until school starts," Carrie moved to open the curtains, letting daylight seep through. "You have been cooped up in your room the whole summer, and I don't even think you've opened the curtains at least...once?"

She coughed as pecks of dust seeped through her nose. She looked at Annabeth who nodded at her. "I disappear for a month and a half straight and this is what I see when I check on you. Unbelievable!" The older woman raised her arms up and walked out of the door, grumbling about teenagers and their cleaning habits.

Annabeth chuckled silently at her stepmother's fondness for the dramatics. Carrie never really disappeared, but the two did barely see each other while she had been busy with a patient. Being a psychiatrist, it was a bit odd to have a rush of patients piling up in a month, usually, it had only been a few people here and there, considering the population in the area.

That's how Carrie and her dad met, during Annabeth's support group meeting of the many ones she handled, after what happened to her mother. Her real mother.

"I know you're not exactly comfortable with going outside, but...it's a good way to spend time before going back to school," her stepmother advised once she returned to Annabeth's room, carrying cleaning supplies. "You need fresh air! Kids your age are outside right now!"

"That's the problem," Annabeth murmured, "People are outside."

"Well uh, yes, but, weren't you going on and on about getting a proper reference for that landscape project?" Her stepmother asked. "You could gather your supplies and head over to the park, how about that?"

Annabeth thought it over. She did see the benefits of going outside—she could use some fresh air, as she had only been inhaling scented candles for the whole summer, and she did need to stretch out her legs. But she never liked the thought of possibly seeing someone from school in public. The risk was definitely high, but seeing the hopeful look on Carrie's face was too much for her conscience.

"Fine."

"Great!" Carrie exclaimed. "Do you want me to take you there? Or do you—"

"Thanks, but I'll just walk." Annabeth began to gather her things. "On second thought, yeah, I change my mind, I don't want to get lost."

 

 

 

It was common for people to change drastically over the summer, especially with teenagers. Some would dedicate hours for exercise, focus on diets, sort out their goals, improve their flaws—anything productive. But of course, like the rest of her internet friends, Annabeth spent most of the summer in her room: sketching, reading, binging shows, movies or books, sometimes crying over fictional characters—the usual.

She scanned her reflection on her phone. Her once distinguishable Californian tan had faded away into a pale, greyish undertone. Her lively blonde hair had become dull, but her stormy grey eyes remained the same, the only physical trait she inherited from her mother.

Arriving at the park, her stepmother kissed her goodbye and drove off. Annabeth nearly winced at the sight of people walking about, though it did relieve her it had only been adults and children present around that part of the park.

She walked over to an ice cream stand nearby and tried to control her breathing to be as normal as possible. The ice cream man smiled at her as she held up one finger and pointed to the vanilla-flavored gallon. She muttered a breathy thank you and walked away to sit under a tree.

Once comfortable, she scanned her surroundings, taking in the parts she would use as reference and which ones she would leave out. There were children running around, laughing as they played tag, and occasionally they'd tag one of their parents and in turn get chased. Children's laughter was indeed one of life's greatest little treasures, and of course, nostalgia started to weigh down in Annabeth's heart as she recalled her own childhood.

After finishing her ice cream, she took out her sketchpad and started on her work.

_BUMP_.

A ball had hit her out of nowhere, the impact causing the back of her head to hit the tree. She closed her eyes as she winced from the pain coming from the two sides of her skull, biting the inside of her cheeks to prevent herself from cursing. Her left hand immediately went up to the side of her head, holding herself in place just in case she would pass out.

Not even thirty minutes of being outside and I get a head injury, she bitterly thought, I knew I should've stayed at home.

"Oh my God, oh my God, I'm so sorry!" a squeaky voice exclaimed.

Annabeth opened her eyes to see Eliza Blofis, her former friend Percy Jackson's thirteen-year-old step-cousin, kneeling in front of her, conflicted and panicking as to what to do next. She repeatedly cursed in her thoughts, seeing an old friend (also a relative of a dear former friend) was something she wasn't exactly emotionally prepared to witness, especially at that time.

She nodded her head repeatedly at a fast pace that it surely wasn't helping her current condition, holding up a thumbs up while avoiding eye-contact, in hopes of shooing the girl away from her.

"What? You're obviously not okay, you could've gotten a...uhh, what's that called? A... _consolation_!"

Annabeth choked on her spit.

"Oh no, now you're choking, uhh...uhm, I'll be right back to get you some water!" Eliza quickly stood up and ran away.

She frantically took out her own water bottle from her bag to relieve herself, not long before hastily gathering her things so she could leave and forget anything had happened. Her head was still throbbing from the pain, her vision was a bit impaired at the moment, but she'll manage.

"Annabeth!" Eliza called out, catching up to her, causing the older girl to curse once more in her thoughts. "We need to get you to a hospital!"

Annabeth waved her hand dismissively, still avoiding eye contact as her other hand tightened on the strap of her bag. 'I'm fine', she started to sign on instinct, forgetting the fact the other girl probably couldn't understand sign language, 'Just go.'

"What?" Eliza asked, completely confused.

"Just let the girl go, Ellie," an all-too-familiar voice said.

Annabeth stiffened. If she already had a bit of trouble with her vision before, she was surely blind now. All she could see for a split second was red all over, and her breathing became heavy.

"Percy, I hit her with the ball, we need to—"

"She's clearly fine if she can stand up and walk," Percy Jackson rolled his eyes. "Besides, we need to go, Paul's been calling you nonstop."

"I—"Eliza looked at Annabeth, who in turn gave her a thumbs up. The former nodded and walked over to Percy.

They both went away, leaving Annabeth behind to sort out her emotions, but they weren't far enough for Percy to say, "You should stay away from her, heard she's gone too loony in the head."

He looked back at her, making eye contact for a split second, knowing fully well that she could hear what he just said. He immediately turned away as if nothing happened.

Unbelievable. Annabeth scoffed, ready to march her way to that foul, stupid, rotten, dimwitted ninnyhammer and punch the daylights out of him when a wave of pain interrupted her sudden rage and was reminded of the fact that she could barely hold eye contact with a person, she was in no condition to beat someone up.

A well-dressed elderly couple nearby made their way to her. ' _Are you alright, dear? We saw what happened_ ,' the woman in the pink sundress signed to her in concern. 'Did those hearing people bother you?'

Annabeth widened her eyes in surprise, stumbling upon people from the deaf community wasn't exactly uncommon, but it didn't happen every day either. But nonetheless, she felt the most comfort when she was around people who knew how to sign, whether strangers or not.

' _Yes, I'm fine, a small conflict, is all_ ,' she signed back. ' _Thank you for your concern, but I do have to go now_.'

The man gave her a smile and the lady bid her goodbye with a wave. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this back when I was around 13 and what I will post are the new rewritten ones. I will indeed change the summary sometime, because reading it just made me cringe big time. So yeah, I hope you all will enjoy this.


End file.
